A typical vacuum robot comprises a main housing and a drive with at least two power-driven wheels. A vacuum blower, a duct connected to the vacuum side of the blower to guide air and separate out dirt and a power source to supply power are provided in the main housing.
The drive of the vacuum robot has a preferred travel direction in which the vacuum cleaner is moved by the high velocity power wheels. Cornering is effected using different rotation speeds of the drive wheels. Turning in place with counter-rotating wheels is also possible.
So that the vacuum robot can move autonomously in the room to be cleaned, it has a navigation system, typically operating under GPS or odometric protocols. Often the distance traveled is inferred from the movement data from the drive. Slip of the drive wheels—especially if this occurs unevenly—can massively reduce the accuracy of the navigation. Here the frictional resistance that occurs between the underside of the vacuum robot and the floor surface to be cleaned is of a decisive magnitude for the occurrence and distribution of slip of the drive wheels. The drive and navigation systems of vacuum robots are widely developed in the prior art.
Previously however the suction characteristics and the suction-opening design of a vacuum robot were not adequately addressed. As a result the current vacuum robot models are still far behind the technically possible suction performance.
Against this background the object of the invention is to provide a self-propelled vacuum cleaner with improved suction characteristics and at the same time more precise navigation. In this case getting over obstacles must also be considered.